Five dead, tens of thousands flee Philippine floods

A resident removes mud on a street brought by monsoon rains in San Mateo, Rizal, Philippines. Erik De Castro / Reuters

MANILA // Five people have been killed in the Philippines and tens of thousands have fled from floods caused by days of unrelenting rain, rescuers said Sunday.

Civil defence officials warned residents of Manila and nearby provinces to expect more heavy seasonal rain over the coming days as more than 24,000 people sought refuge in schools and government buildings.

“We are expecting more low-lying areas to experience flooding,” National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokeswoman Romina Marasigan said.

“Those who are already in evacuation centres should stay there until the weather improves,” she added.

Those evacuated include nearly 9,000 Manila residents displaced by flooding from the Marikina River on Saturday.

The council said three Manila slum residents were crushed to death Saturday by walls that collapsed in the floods.

A man drowned crossing a swift-flowing river on the central island of Panay on Wednesday, it said, while the authorities retrieved a body from a Manila canal on Friday - the cause of death is under investigation.

A fisherman went missing at sea off the central island of Marinduque on Monday, while a man was injured by falling rocks at a highway east of Manila on Friday, it said.

In all, more than 70,000 people have had their houses swamped by floodwaters, the council said, though the majority of residents have remained at home.

The western section of the Philippines has been swamped by heavy rain over the past week, forcing the cancellation of some domestic commercial flights and the suspension of classes.

* Agence France-Presse